Jess Kelley AE

facilitator, editor, coach

Jess has spent the last 20 years helping people tell their stories and share their expertise via the written word. She hosts regular online writing support sessions and has delivered retreats and workshops in Australia and Europe for academics, memoirists, creative writers, business writers, and people who don’t consider themselves as any kind of writer at all.

After a decade of living in Europe, she’s well-versed in working with non-native English writers and exploring cross-cultural communication. She enjoys helping people to untangle their writing problems, and sharing the various solutions she’s learned along the way.

After securing her first editing position at 17 years old, Jess became chief editor for the journal of Mensa Australia — a position which became the perfect testing ground for working with people with exceptionally high standards. Since then, her varied projects have seen her work with direct private clients, multinational companies and everyone in between.

A few of her diverse roles include naturalising translations for a Michelin-starred chef; acting as a language advisor for Warner Brothers Australia’s TV show Child Genius; coaching a 10-year-old to develop his written expression; and mentoring startups to improve all aspects of their communication. 

Drawing on her wealth of experience with university students, professional authors, celebrity clients, the corporate world and beyond, Jess is a versatile language advisor who takes pride in being able to provide support and education to suit the diverse needs of her clients.

She holds accreditation from the Institute of Professional Editors (Australia), a coaching certification from Genius Coaching (USA), and has undertaken facilitator training with Professor Rowena Murray (UK). She is an active member of various associations for language professionals around the world.

Her parallel career paths have been in field archaeology, event production, and working with the highly gifted — these remain strong interests, and often intersect with her writing-related work.

Learn more about Jess and her other projects at www.jesscat.fi